Noida and Greater Noida hit by twin food poisoning outbreaks, over 90 hospitalised

Officials reported that a total of 93 individuals, comprising 17 from Noida and 76 from Greater Noida, were admitted to hospitals following suspected food poisoning in two distinct incidents. The cases arose after consuming special meals made with 'kuttu ka atta' during Mahashivratri festivities.

The 17 people, who fell ill in Noida, included men and women residents of Barola village who are admitted to the district hospital in Sector 30 while the 76 people in Greater Noida are students of different colleges living in a private hostel and have been admitted to different hospitals in the area, they said.

The students, who are enrolled at different colleges and lived in a private hostel, had dinner on Friday after which many of them complained of uneasiness, dizziness and vomiting, police said.

The students were staying at Aryan Residency in the Knowledge Park area -- an educational hub -- and had 'puris' made of 'kuttu ka atta' (buckwheat flour) on account of Mahashivratri on Friday.

"The local police are seized of the incident which took place on Friday evening after around 76 students had their dinner and then complained of their stomachs getting upset. All the students were taken to different hospitals and their condition is stable now," police said in a statement.

There is no law and order issue due to the incident and the matter is being probed, police said.

In Noida, 17 people, including women, were admitted to the hospital after they consumed meals that included 'kuttu ka atta', District Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Renu Agarwal said.

"Now the condition of all the patients is stable, they are out of danger. It appears to be a case of food poisoning," Agarwal told PTI.

Meanwhile, the district's food safety department took cognisance of the incidents and took samples of the raw materials in Barola village in Noida and Aryan Residency hostel in Greater Noida.

"We have started the process for a probe in the matters. Our teams have inspected the sites and collected samples of the raw materials which were used to prepare the meals that apparently caused the food poisoning," District Food Safety officer Archana Dheeran told PTI.

"The collected samples would be sent to Lucknow for analysis and once we get a report from there, legal proceedings would be initiated accordingly. We are trying to expedite the probe in the cases that concern public health," Dheeran added.

The hostel students said they had dinner which was cooked separately for them owing to their fast.

"We had dinner around 9.30 pm. I started feeling dizzy by 10.30 pm and then went to sleep. Some friends then noticed that a lot of students had started complaining of dizziness, uneasiness, vomiting," said Piyush, a student recuperating at a private hospital."My body started trembling around midnight and I felt feverish and dizzy. Two of my roommates and I were then brought to the emergency department here. Some others in my hostel were vomiting too," another student Kushal told reporters at the Kailash Hospital.

(With agency inputs)